12 TIPS FOR GREAT NATURE PHOTOS
- BE READY! Keep your camera charged and readily available.
- KNOW YOUR SUBJECT and what they normally do. For instance, birds like to eat.
- DRAW THEM IN. I try to plant flowers that butterflies like, set out hummingbirds feeders. It fills my yard with opportunities.
- SET THINGS UP to make it easy for them to do it near your house. I set up a picturesque scene (Scarecrow, Snow man, boot) and add food.
- KEEP AN EYE OUT to be ready to snap when they do. I wait – they come – I shoot.
- GET DOWN…or UP. Try to get on the same level as your subject if possible, but at the same time play around with different angles.
- CLOSE IN. Don’t be afraid to get close up. It might scare the live subjects, but it works great for plants or those who are less timid.
- ISOLATE your subject so there isn’t a lot of distracting “stuff”. You can set your camera on portrait and it will blur the back ground a bit.
- KNOW YOUR CAMERA and what it can and can not do. Exploit what it can do.
- USE THE BEST LIGHT, which is the morning and evening light. It is warmer and casts fewer harsh shadows.
- GAIN PERSPECTIVE to your setting by capturing a little something in the foreground, like a branch.
- GET OFF CENTERED. Don’t center your subject. There is more eye appeal if it is 1/3 of the way off to a side and also top to bottom. Look up the Rule of Thirds.
- SNAP AWAY! Take lots of pictures. I delete at least 3/4 of what I take. It’s how you learn.
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